Whatever Happens
by UselessReptile
Summary: After learning that Catherine Todd wasn't his real mother, Jason attempts to run away from Wayne Manor to uncover the truth. When Raven catches him in the act, he has little choice but to drag her along and tolerate her skepticism on the plane. -DCAU-


**Author's Note:**  
**I don't exactly know what caused me to start writing this or why, but, while I was in the airport yesterday morning waiting for our plane's delay to pick back up, I started reading through some of my comics and one of those was _Death in the Family_, which I read a few months ago after finding it in the library. Anyway, there's this brief 2 or 3 panel scene where Jay's on the plane out to find his mom and bits and pieces of dialogue between him and Rae (my OC, by the way...Raven is her real name, not her superhero name, no relation to Rachel Roth or anything of the sort) started popping into my head. ...and for those of you who don't know, the Robin in my DCAU is Jason, not Dick. Why? ...because he's awesome.  
**

**So after chatting mom's ear off for an hour and a half, I spent the last 30 minutes of the plane ride writing this and I think I wrote the first 3 pages there.**

**I didn't reread it or look it over or proof it, really, after I finished it, so, this is the rough draft/what spilled outta my fingers. And I rushed the last bits because I wanted to submit it before I got caught up in college orientation stuff this weekend and lost my fire for it. Hopefully it's not awful or crap. xD**

**Originally the title was "crumble" because Jason's mother was more or less the start of his...death. In a way, I guess. I was disappointed that they didn't include that factor in the movie because it really adds to his later abandonment issues and further emotional strain/depth. :\ ...Jasoooon.**

**And no, they're not a pairing. ...they're more brother/sister and crap. ...I'll start publishing actual stories instead of random/messy one-shots eventually.  
**

**...  
**

"_Ladies and gentlemen, boarding for C14 will begin in the next five minutes._"

Raven glanced up from her book, lowering it for a moment and staring up towards the ceiling of the airport terminal. The people around her shuffled their bags and began digging around for their boarding passes; she quickly replaced the book to her carry on and began to do the same. She glanced to her side where Jason sat, his iPod earphones in. He probably hadn't heard the announcement. She cleared her throat and gently rapped his shoulder, causing him to send her a bit of a glare as he plucked one of his earphones out.

"What?"

"We're boarding soon," she answered, pulling her purse over her shoulder. "Might wanna get your ticket and stuff together."

His brow raised some before he pulled his other earphone out and quickly began wrapping the cord around the red iPod. She pulled the ticket from her purse and turned it a few times in her hand, resisting the urge to crumple it multiple times to the point it'd tear easily. Instead she lowered her fingers to her pocket and brushed them against the bulge that was her cell phone. It was off, as it had been since they left the manor. She hated this. Hated going behind Bruce's back. Hated putting Gar up to covering for them. But she had hated letting Jason go on his own almost more than those.

She had caught him the previous night nabbing some extra credit cards and cash from one of the studies, making plans to catch an airplane to Bosnia of all places. It'd taken about an hour of arguing and another half hour of convincing, but, she'd finally gotten the information out of him. Through a visit back to Crime Alley, where Bruce had originally discovered him, he had gotten a box of possessions that someone in the apartment had managed to save for him after he had run away. He'd found his birth certificate and, using his father's address book and the Bat computer, discovered that his birth mother is still alive and out of country. And apparently the immediate and 'only choice' he had was to grab the first flight possible to the Middle East and find her, without telling Bruce. She, of course, couldn't let him go alone. She would have never been able to live with the idea, let alone having to face Bruce and flat out lie to him about Jason's whereabouts. Thus, she threatened to tell Bruce about Jason's escape if he didn't allow her to tag along. And now, here they were, boarding the plane as the guilt once again began to rise in her throat.

It wasn't until they were seated in their first class row that she actually realized she had been holding her breath. Jason flopped down at the window seat and she took the aisle spot, shoving their extra bags into the compartments above them and grunting as she sat down beside him. They remained silent for several minutes, him staring out the window and herself surveying the other passengers on the plane and trying to guess what business they must have traveling to the Middle East. Vacation sounded a bit odd for some reason and work was a curious question, but not necessarily uncommon. There were hardly any children on the plane….hardly any people on the plane at all, for that matter. Five minutes later, the pilot announced their departure and the plane was in the air.

The silence continued to linger and steadily became a bit unnerving. Jason's eyes were locked out the window even though there wasn't much to look at. She fidgeted with her fingers for a few seconds, biting her lip and letting out a low sigh.

"Will you stop that?"

She stiffened a little and glanced back at him, scowling.

"Stop what? Fidgeting?"

"Yeah, quit it."

She almost glared at him. "Jason, we're about to fly half way across the world with …more or less money we _stole_ from Bruce. And he doesn't even know. AND we made Gar stay behind to cover our butts! And you expect me to act _normal_ about this?"

"It's not that big've a deal, Rae," he retorted, giving her a glare of his own. "Kids run away—"

"This is _different_." She shot back, having to double check herself to make sure she didn't raise her voice higher than necessary. "I just-….ugh, I can't believe I came with you."

"Hey, you're the bitch who threatened to give me away if you _didn't_…so stop it. I sure as hell didn't _make_ you come."

"I know, I know. Shut up."

He snorted and looked back to the window. She folded her arms and drummed her fingers slowly across her bicep, staring through the seat in front of her. Another several minutes of tense silence, she decided there had to be some break to it. Otherwise this trip was going to be miserable. She glanced over at him and opened her mouth to try the classic, stupid small talk about what weather in the Middle East could possibly be like, but suddenly caught sight of his face in the reflection of the window. Her own expression softened a little as she tried studying his eyes.

"…are you anxious?"

His shoulders tensed a little at the question and for a moment, he didn't respond. She frowned a little. "…Jason?"

"…I don't know, Rae," he muttered, shrugging a little before turning himself away from the window. "I just…I don't know."

"What were their names, again?"

"Sharmin Rosen, Shiva Woosen, and Sheila Haywood…_Doctor_ Sheila Haywood."

"Ooh, a doctor. Fancy."

"Mm."

The silence returned, but it was short-lived.

"Did any of them look like you?" Raven asked carefully. He shrugged.

"No. Not really."

"I wonder what they're like. Which one are we trying to meet up with first?"

"Uuh, Sharmin."

She nodded and looked ahead again. Now he was the one fidgeting with his fingers and he glimpsed back out the window. Raven sighed softly and glanced at the book tucked away between her thigh and the chair's arm. She was tempted to pick it up and lose herself to it, but…at the same time her curiosity's chewing was becoming more than her brain could handle. She side glanced him and shifted her weight a little in the chair.

"So," she started. "Why, exactly are we doing this? I thought you liked Diana."

He glimpsed at her but looked back out the window. "I do, Rae. She's nice and stuff…annoying sometimes, but, everyone is."

"But she's not good enough?"

"_No_, that has nothing to do with it!" Now he turned to face her. "Look, I…I don't know, Raven, it's hard to explain. I just…I need to at least see her. …at least know who she is. …find out why she left me with my dad and Catherine."

"…I just don't understand why it's that important when you already have Bruce and Diana."

His gaze hardened. "You're talking like you think I'm just gonna up 'n leave them."

"Well, geese, I guess that's because A. You basically just did, and B. You don't even know this woman. She might have totally ditched your dad and left you with him because she didn't care, or gotten into some trouble and you were gonna slow her down or something. They're all half-way across the world, Jason, your average person doesn't go to Africa or the Middle East of all places unless they've got a darn good reason."

"One of them's in the secret service and another's a _doctor_, Raven," his tone was coming in a bit more of a growl now. "Working on famine relief efforts."

"You don't know that for sure. And wasn't the other one suspected of being some kind of _mercenary_? The Bat computer's accurate ninety percent of the time, but it's not perfect."

"Neither are you."

Raven stiffened and she felt her expression hardening. Jason breathed out slowly through his nostrils, a sign that he was trying to calm himself. It took a few seconds, but he spoke up once again. "…if you had the opportunity to see your parents again—your _real_ parents—wouldn't you jump at it?"

She stared at him for several seconds, swallowing thickly. "…no. I wouldn't. I don't know who my parents were. Just like you don't know who your mother is."

"You're just saying that 'cause they're both dea—"

"We don't know if those were even my _real_ parents, Jason." The words almost spat from her mouth. "They had fake IDs. I could have been kidnapped from my real parents for all we know. 'Raven' might not even be my birth name, _we don't know_. ….I don't know who my parents were. I've got Bruce and Diana…even if we found out my parents were still alive, I don't think I would pursue them."

"…you don't _think_."

"…_look_, Jason. You're lucky I didn't just go running to Bruce. So stop trying to justify yourself and just...ride the plane, okay?"

He snorted, a sour smirk appearing on his face as he shook his head. "Just ride the plane, huh?"

She glowered at him and didn't break until she had promptly grabbed her book and opened it to a random page, turning her head sharply and near literally shoving her nose into it. He folded his arms and sat back in the chair, also turning away and once more focusing his gaze outside the window. _Even if there wasn't much of anything to look out at…tch._

Despite trying to focus her brain on the actual words of the book, it didn't seem to be reading them. No, instead, it was replacing the words with other things, like…things she wished she had said during that conversation…such as a better finishing stab ('just ride the plane'? Yeah, that was weak). Or other points she could have brought up about this mystery woman…did he even research them any further than the briefings that the Bat computer would have provided? Check to see if they had any kind of papers or records or…something. There had to be more information on these women. And yeah, they had all been in his father's address book, but that was no guarantee that meant she was his mother. What if it had been a one night stand and she'd left him on his dad's doorstep? What if they traveled high and low all over and none of these women was his mother?

Something in her suddenly sank and she swallowed slightly. How hard _would_ that hit him if it happened? His birth certificate proved that Catherine wasn't his mother, but…nothing else seemed solid. The address book, the women he had mentioned… she didn't like the unease boiling in her stomach. If this worked out, she'd eat her shoe—

"Ma'am?"

The stewardess startled her and she almost dropped her book as her thoughts were interrupted. Oh. Refreshment time. She eyed the cart and quickly brought her attention back to the young woman, forcing a pleasant smile onto her face and nodding.

"Uh, just some water and pretzels please."

The stewardess nodded and began to pour her a glass of water. "And for you, sir?"

Jason turned away from the window, giving a lazy shrug and shaking his head. "Uh, I dunno…coke and rum."

Raven double-took him, her brow furrowing as she opened her mouth. But the stewardess beat her to it.

"First class or not, kid, you don't look ripe enough for rum," she laughed. "How about straight coke, instead?"

"…kay."

She handed them their drinks, giving Jason another thin smirk before carrying on her route. Raven blinked after her before putting her drink on the tray in front of her and turning to face him. He started to take a sip of the coke but paused when he noticed her. He then put the drink down and stared back at her.

"…what?"

"…_really_?"

He looked away and then back, raising a brow and shrugging.

"…rum. Are you serious?"

"Hell, no." He grinned and laughed some. "I just wanted to see if she'd actually give it to me. It's happened before."

"…-you've gotten rum on a plane before?"

"Jealous?"

"Wh—NO. I just can't believe—"

"Relax, Rae, _God_. No. I haven't gotten rum on a plane before; I mean kids've gotten rum on planes."

"Like who?"

"…I dunno."

The two stared at each other for a moment before laughing. Raven chuckled and sighed, rubbing her neck and replacing her book to her side before eyeing her purse. She side-glanced Jason as he sipped at his cola and ducked down, reaching into the side compartment of the purse and tugging out a bag of Reese's Pieces.

"…look," she muttered, fidgeting with the top of it. "As much as I don't like this because of how…little…we know about these women, I…I still just want you to be careful and…happy. So. Whatever happens. Just know that I'll be there with you if you need me."

The bag popped open and she huffed softly, shifting the bottom into her hand and offering the open side to him with a small smile. "…kay?"

He eyed the bag for a moment before letting his gaze trail up to her face. There was a moment where the previous tension seemed to return and linger between them, trying to decide if it was worth the stay or not. But, just as suddenly as it had come, it vanished. A small smile found its way to his face instead and he reached into the bag.

"Right. Just know that I'm only agreeing to this because of the Reese's Pieces. That peace statement of yours was a bit lacking in that cheesy _Full House_ emotional moment music."

"…just shut up, eat your candy and ride the plane, Jason."


End file.
